Prepayment mechanism for gas and similar meters



Dec. ll, 1934.

E. W. SMITH ET AL.

PREPAYMENT MECHANISM FOR GAS AND SIMILAR METERS Original Filed Ivay 2, 1935 Attorney.

Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED vSTilkXTflI-I'S lPATflE-NT yi()"Fl`-"ICEE kr y'1,984,162 y i n s' l y n PREPAYMENT .MECHANISM Fon GAS AND n SIMLARMETERS. f Ernest William swing-London, 'an-a Arthur Charles, Streatham Vale, London, England original application May 2, 1933, serial No. 668,950. Divided and this application April 30,

March '23, 1932 :j In Great Britain v'olaims. (C1. isi-'72) f This invention relates to .prepayment mechanism for gas and electricity meters and for like purposes, and especially to 4mechanism adapted for operation by coins of more than one valuel Without any adjustment of `the mechanism being /nec'essary to render it operable `by such coins.

` Theinvention has among its objects to provide "improved coin holders of the kind provided with a plurality of coin slots adapted for the reception are retained within the respective slotsby spring pressure exerted in a direction parallel with the n corresponding slots.

The invention is especially applicable `to mechanism such as described in the specification of the cci-pending application No. 668,950, filed May 2,

19373 from which this application is divided.

vAccording to the invention in its application to coin-actuated:mechanism adapted foralterna-` tive actuation by two coins, such .as a VShilling s and a penny, the coin holder mechanism is lprovided with separate andadjacent coin slots and with separate strikers vfor actuation'` bythe re-f` spectve coins, the striker correspondingv to the coin of smaller Value is independently koperable while the4 strikercorresponding to .thecoin of higher value wheny actuated causes the actuation of the other striker.

AThe coin pockets may isthus tilted to an angle whereby the'outer edge of the coin comes to rest against the side ofthe adjacent pennyv pocket. In this operation'the ,tuated by a coin of ,lower value'. In this way the Shilling vis Yreleasedat the saine positionas av pennyE Y 55/ rto ,pass through the samey 'discharge slot'tprovidedf inwthe accompanying drawing.

d of coins of diierent values, wherein the coins y beds/o provided that while 3()A the `pocket forthe-coin ofplower value is suchY that the coin cannot be displaced from itsrposil tion in the pocket on the clockwise movement l of thecoin holder, the coin rpocket for the coin of higher. value is open to the adjacent pocket; of the coin of lower value, so that thusV in the clockwise rotation of thecoin holder 0after the insertion for example of a Shilling, thecoindoes not remain parallel with the coin pocket, but on being thrust outwards by means ofthe helical l 40uspring to which the striker is subject, engages withtheiinner periphery of the coin holder casing` and as the coin holder is rotated clockwisethe coin x .of lower' value. Thus the strikers are disengaged' from the respective quantity wheelsat exactly thev l `sainepos'itioria's Ais the single striker whenac- .casing to drop into the coin receptacle beneath.

`The invention further comprises the 'constructional features hereinafter described. y, y

` The inventionjisillustrated, :by wayof example, ,y

Figurefl fis asectional side Aelevation of a coin holder mechanism provided according to the invntion; 1

y FigureZ is a rear elevation ofthe coin holder, partly in section. l Figure 3` is ras'ectional .plan view of the coin holder mechanism. j

` Figure 4 represents perspective views or" 'the two strikers ,provided 'in the coin holder. y

carryinguth'e invention into effect according to the construction represented iny the accompanying drawing jin its application to a mechanism such as that described in the speci- -rficat'ion of thjec'open'ding application No. 668,950,

the price-changing disc a is provided in determined position `with two parallel and juxtaposed slots ll, a2 of 'sizes corresponding respectively to ga' Shilling and alpenny, similar slots b1, b2, or

tri'callyniounted upon the price-changingdisc and is adapted in known manner to be rotated `by 'means' of a Ahandlec mounted externally' to the ,price-'changing disc.`A 'The` coin holder may AAin known manner 'comprise twoparallel disposed plates d,` e that extend outwardly from the disc b 'and'V are set in po'sitiontrahsversely across the. face of the disc at positions near afdiametric "line, the plates vbeing conveniently diverted at right; angles at one end `for the formation .of lugs bywhijch the plates may be secured tothe outer face ofthe disc b, While at the opposite or outer 'end oneojthe'plates d may be bentto form an end'wall dlffor engagement with the other, and

thus form a rectangular cavity within which the strikers ,f,i.g may be rmounted to slide lengthwisel and injplanes parallel and adjacent to thatl in whichth'efaxis of the coin holder lies.' The strikers may advantageously be provided'tojlie in 'the same plane, kbeing for the main part `of their lengthgof awdth or breadth approximate- `1y equivalent kto one-half kthe width or breadth.

Vof thev cayity within the `coin holdenand Abeingfrespectively adapted to move transversely to ythe jaxis "of thjexcoinL holder by means of pins g1, jl passing respectively 'through slotsy e1, e 2"in verticalline provided in the one wall e of the coin holder, the slots being provided in line transversely to the axis of the coin holder. The striker g is further constrained to move transversely to the axis of the coin holder by a second pin g2 which also passes transversely through a slot in the wall e of the coin holder. The striker f is constrained to a similar movement by reason of its shape relatively to that of the striker g and the relative disposition of the two strikers in the coin holder. The pins y1, f1 serve for the engagement of the lower ends of corresponding helical springs g3, f2, the upper end of each of which may be engaged upon a pin secured to or integral with the wall of the coin holder near the opposite end, so that thus the respective strikers may normally be maintained in their outermost position respectively out of engagement with the quantity wheels h, i. The striker j that is adapted to be actuated by a shilling is of slightly greater length than the striker g that is adapted to be actuated by a penny, so that thus the shilling striker at its upper end extends over the penny striker and forms an outwardly extending arm or pawl. Thus the arm or pawl of the shilling striker f extends outwardly from the end wall of the coin holder to engage the larger and outermost quantity wheel i, while the' penny Astriker g which is disposed adjacent the end wall, is at its upper end provided with a shorter striker arm or pawl that is adapted to engage the adjacent smaller quantity wheel h. The shilling striker f is provided with a transversely disposed part] 3 in a determined position which is conveniently provided with a groove for the reception of the lower edge of the shilling'coin on its introduction through the slot in the price-changing disc, and this .transversely disposed part is normally disposed above a corresponding transversely disposed part g4 immediately beneath and carried by the penny striker g. These respective transversely disposed parts it will be understood form the bottom of Y the adjacent coin pockets respectively for the coins of higher and lower value. The part g4 is provided of greater thickness than the part f3 and corresponding approximately to the width of the coin holder pocket, so that a penny may rest thereon at the side of the part f3. Inasmuch as the transversely disposed part g4. forming the bottom of the pocket for the coin of lower value is disposed immediately beneath and in contact with the transversely disposed part f3 forming the bottom of the pocket for the coin of higher value, it will be understood that when the coin of a higher value is introduced into the coin holder both strikers are caused to move downwards or inwards to engage the respective quantity wheels. Furthermore it will be understood that the penny striker at its upper end lies immediately beneath the overhanging part of the shilling striker, and thus any movement imparted to the shilling striker is necessarily imparted to the penny striker.

In operation, it will be understood that by inserting a penny, for example, through the appropriate sl-ot and into the appropriate coin pocket, the penny striker g is depressed, so that its outwardly extending arm engages the appropriate quantity wheel h, and thepenny remains parallel within the pocket until the coin striker is also disengaged from ,the quantity wheel. Furthermore the transversely disposed part f3 of the striker f is provided with a lat erally disposed upstanding portion ,f4 dening the coin space and having the inner face inclined or bevelled outwardly. By inserting a shilling, for example, through the appropriate slot and into the 'appropriate coin pocket, both the shil- 5 ling .and penny strikers are depressed, whereby both the adjacent quantity wheels are engaged and as the coin holder is thereupon rotated the coin does not remain parallel with the pocket but being held against the inner periphery of 10 the casing by reason of the effect of the helical springs by which the respective strikers are subject,r the coin is tilted into a position in which it lies against the inclined surface of the portion f4 with its outer edge in contact with the side 15 of the adjacent penny pocket. The quantity wheels yare thus rotated to an extent corresponding to that by which one of the wheels would be moved on actuation of the mechanism with a penny and the strikers disengage from 20 the quantity wheels at exactly the same position on reaching the discharge slot 7'1 in the lower part of the casing y' as in the case of actuation by a penny.

At its forward end the transversely disposed25 part f3 of the shilling striker is advantageously recessed to receive a roller f5 which facilitates the entry'of a coin into the corresponding coin pocket or recess.

It will be understood that the invention is notf3'0 limited to the details of construction hereinbefore described, since'these may be varied without departingfrom the scope of the invention as hereinbefore set forth.

1. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters adapted for selective actuation by either of two coins, such as a shilling and a penny, embodying a rotary coin holder provided with separate and adjacent coin slots and separates-Qi'O strikers for actuation by the respective coins, said strikers having coin pockets so relatively arranged for coaction with the coins that the striker corresponding tothe coin of smaller value is adapted to be independently operated by suchf:5 coin while the striker for the coin of higher value when actuated thereby causes also the simultaneous actuation of the rst striker.

2. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters, according to claim 1, wherein the'.)0 coin holder is arranged within a casing and wherein the pocket for the coin of lower value maintains the coin without displacement from its position in the pocket during rotation of the coin holder, while the pocket for the coin ofi-55 higher value is open to the adjacent pocket of the coin of lower value so that in the rotation of the coin holder after the insertion of a coin of the higher value the coin is caused to tilt or incline in the pocket by engagement with ao portion of the coin holder casing and is thus maintained in a position to be discharged from the coin holder casing after rotation of the coin holder through the same angle as that required to discharge a coin of the lower value.

3. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters, according to claim 1, in which the strikers for the coins of different value are disposed in the coin holder in the same plane and are movable transversely to the axis of the coin-5170 holder, their form being such that while the one striker may be moved independently of the other, movement of the second striker involves also movement of the first striker.

4. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and sim' 75 ilar meters, according to claim 1, wherein the strikers are provided with transversely disposed parts forming the bottom walls of the respective coin pockets, the transverse part of the second striker being disposed above and lying upon the transversely disposed part of the rst striker.

5. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters, according to claim 1, wherein the strikers are provided with transversely disposed parts forming the bottom walls of the respective coin pockets, and in which the transverse part of the first striker is of greater width than the transverse part of the second striker so that the transverse part of the second striker forms a bounding wall of the coin pocket of the first striker. n

6. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters, according to claim 1, wherein the strikers are provided with transversely disposed parts forming the bottom wallsof the respective coin pockets, and wherein the transverse part of the second striker is provided with a laterally disposed upstanding portion forming a boundary wall of the coin pocket of thesecond striker and of such form that the coin contained in the said pocket may incline so that the outer part of its periphery lies within the space forming the coin pocket of the iirst striker.

7. Coin-actuated mechanism for gas and similar meters, according toclaim 1, wherein the strikers are provided with transversely disposed parts forming the bottom walls of the respective coin pockets, and wherein the transverse part of the second striker is provided with a laterally disposed upstanding portion forming a boundary wall of the coin pocket of the second striker, said upstanding portion being provided with an inclined inner face to support the coin so that the coin contained in the said pocket may incline so that the outer part of its periphery lies within the space forming the coin pocket of the :first striker.

ERNEST WILLIAM SMITH. ARTHUR CHARLES. 

